1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a software processing apparatus employed for a software distribution system for delivering software such as a computer programs or a video work, etc. and particularly digitized software.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A software is desired to be distributed because of its value. While on the other hand, the software is intangible so that the software can not therefore exist solely in a physical sense. Hence, when distributing the software, the software is fixed to a medium which is a transferrable movable property. For example, a computer program is sold while being fixed to a floppy disk. Further, a video work is sold while being fixed to a video tape, a silver film, etc.. Also, a music work is sold while being fixed to a compact disk, a record and an audio tape.
However, when the software is put on the market while being fixed to the medium, the distribution of the software is largely influenced by a characteristic of the medium absolutely in the same way with other corporeal things. That is, a distribution quantity of the software is limited to the number of mediums to which sets of copied software are fixed. Further, a content (which herein implies the software) of the medium can not be easily changed.
Consequently, there may be such a situation that the mediums fixed with a certain set of software were sold out, while a stock of mediums fixed with other sets of software could not be sold out. Because of producing this situation, vendors for vending plural kinds of software have to predict the sales and deal with a complicated stock management such as knowing what sets of software to be manufactured (i.e., knowing what sets of software to be copied and fixed them to the mediums). Besides, if this sales prediction is out of a target, they may encounter a large loss in some cases. This situation is conceived as an adverse effect caused by transforming the software originally defined as the intangible into the corporeal thing by fixing it to the medium. This is, it can be said, a situation of spoiling an advantage inherent in the intangible wherein an arbitrary number of copies are produced.
By the way, those sets of software may be broadcasted in the form of TV broadcasting, radio broadcasting and cable broadcasting. If the software becomes an object for such broadcasting, a software running royalty for the broadcast itself of the software is paid from a broadcasting enterpriser to a software rightful claimant (a claimant for copyright). For this reason, audiences are allowed to watch and hear the software with no charge. Part of the running royalty for (the right of broadcasting of) the software to be paid by the broadcasting enterpriser may be burdened on the audience as a broadcasting license fee in some cases. Further, in a video broadcasting system based on an on-demand method, the software running royalty itself is imposed on the audience.
However, even in the case that the broadcasted software is allowed to be watched and heard with no charge, once the broadcasted software is fixed to the medium, as a matter of fact, the software can be reproduced plural number of times, or, the software can be transferred to a third party. Such a way of using the software brings about a unprofitability to the software rightful claimant (the claimant for copyright) that can not be covered simply by collecting the broadcasting license fees. Accordingly, if the audience fixes the broadcasted software onto the medium, the audience should give the software rightful claimant (claimant for copyright) a profit of the same amount of money as that in the case of vending a copy of the software while being fixed to the medium. Especially in the case that the software consists of digitized data, absolutely the same copy as the original can be obtained from such characteristics of the digitized data that copying on other mediums is extremely easy, and there is no deterioration due to the copying as seen in the analog information. Hence, there is an extremely high possibility in which the copying conduct spoils the profit of the claimant. Under such circumstances, there has hitherto been utilized a system wherein a software running royalty is previously added to a sales price of the medium.
Even if the medium is vended in the manner of added the software running royalty beforehand to the sales price thereof, however, the medium itself can be fixed with any kinds of software (including not only those from which the copyrights are derived but also natural creatures themselves). Accordingly, at the point of time when vending this medium, the vendor can not previously know which software will be fixed to which medium. Hence, even if a specific set of software is fixed to a certain medium afterward, it is difficult to pay the running royalty added beforehand to the sales price of that medium back to the software rightful claimant. Further, if a video and sounds of a natural creature are fixed onto the medium, or if the software copyrighted by the medium user himself or herself is fixed onto this medium, the running royalty added beforehand to the sales price of the medium becomes, as a matter of fact, an illegal profit.